Beaufort County administrator talks 2012 successes, 2013 challenges

While Beaufort County officials tightened the books in 2012 after falling into a $2.7 million budget deficit two years ago, County Administrator Gary Kubic is looking ahead to a property reassessment anticipated to deal county finances a significant blow in a new fiscal year starting July.

In a year-end interview with Bluffton Today, Kubic listed the budget among 2012’s major accomplishments and talked infrastructure, the reassessment and other challenges facing his administration in 2013.

RESTORING THE BUDGET

The county faced a budget gap of $2.7 million in 2010 along with tough choices, Kubic said. “About two years ago we started looking at the rate of expenditure and said we have to be below a certain target line, and said we’re going to implement what some called a ‘semi hiring freeze,’ which meant reviewing the essential need of departing personnel to see if existing staff could absorb those duties,” he said. “If it was reasonable, we didn’t replace.”

The result: About 60 jobs outside of public safety and emergency management went unfilled, eliminating the budget gap while putting another $1.4 million toward reserves that now stand at $22.3 million, about $20 million of which isn’t committed to ongoing payments.

A budget that stood at $104 million five years ago now tops out at $97 million.

“Financially, putting the county in position in anticipation of having to adjust to less — because I do believe, based on reassessment, that we’ll have to adjust — we made a step forward.”

ST. HELENA LIBRARY

Kubic called the new 24,000-square-foot library at St. Helena Island’s Penn Center campus a significant investment in an underserved area that will pay dividends beyond public education.

The $11.1 million library, which replaced the small facility operating out of St. Helena Elementary School after 20 years, was funded through a $6 million U.S. Department of Agriculture loan, a $2.5 million USDA grant, $1.5 million from the S.C. Department of Commerce and $1.1 million in fees from local development.

“That will, I think, in the long term pay some really interesting dividends not only in educating the children in that area…but also the historical connections,” Kubic said, pointing to the area’s legacy as a center of Gullah culture and authentic design features of the new library.

REASSESSMENT

Developing a budget for the 2014 fiscal year, starting July 1, truly begins in April when County Assessor Ed Hughes determines the value of each individual property tax mill after conducting a five-year reassessment, Kubic said. Currently, each mill is worth about $1.7 million in revenue, but officials have anticipated a 13 percent overall decline in the property tax base from $1.8 billion in 2011.

Residents who see the value of their home increase or decline less than the 13 percent mark would see higher tax bills, and officials estimate about 33 percent of Bluffton residents will fall into that category.

Uncertainty remains about whether the county is legally bound to raise the millage rate to maintain the same revenue levels, and if County Council decided against rolling property taxes forward at all the county could face an $8 million gap at current levels, Kubic said, adding the school district would face an even greater challenge because a far greater proportion of its operating funds come from property taxes.

A solution that raised taxes but not by enough to maintain the same levels of revenue would require county administration to come up with major cuts under a narrow timeframe, Kubic said.

“Remember, we’re going to be in April,” he said. “The budget is due June 30. That’s 90 days.”

INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

Of the 10 road projects prioritized through a 2006 sales tax referendum, the flyover bridge connecting Bluffton Parkway to the Hilton Head Island bridge and a proposed realignment at Buckwalter Parkway remain.

At $45 million, the flyover bridge faces a $5 million shortfall after running close to $15 million over original projections largely because of fuel and labor costs. The recession has also stymied plans because fees from new development that the county was counting on for the entire package of projects fell about $50 million short.

To close that gap the county is considering a combination of solutions, Kubic said, from taking on more debt, tapping accommodations tax money and securing about $2 million in support from Hilton Head Island, which has lobbied for about $1 million in upgrades to improve the project’s appearance.

Those plans will be presented early in the new year, and ultimately County Council will have to decide whether to shelve them, but Kubic reiterated he considers the 2006 referendum “supreme law” that requires exhaustive contingency planning until it’s determined “you absolutely can’t perform it.”

Kubic said he expects the county to decide how to straighten a section of Bluffton Parkway from Buckwalter Parkway to Buck Island road in the spring. The town of Bluffton is paying $100,000 for a new study for an alternative realignment, arguing it’s better for development possibilities and would save $4 million in acquisition costs from landowner John Reed, who has threatened to sue, saying his development agreement calls for the town’s route.

The county conducted its own study and received the blessing of the Federal Highway Administration in 2008. Officials have pitched a plan for the as-yet-undetermined $25 million project to lobby the state infrastructure bank to fund debt obligations starting in 2017 if the county covers all costs until then.